National shuttlers praise RTG programme, want it to continue until LA 2028

National men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik fought hard to capture a second consecutive Olympic bronze, while Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah became the first Malaysian women’s doubles pair in history to reach an Olympic semi-final.

Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei also became the first mixed doubles pair to reach the Olympic knockout rounds in eight years.

These six shuttlers received extensive support from RTG, which they highlighted during a post Olympics press conference at the Academy Badminton Malaysia on Tuesday.

Thinaah was grateful for Indonesian sparring partners Ade Yusuf Santoso and Gerardo Rizqullah Hafidz which helped elevate their game.

“Sparring with the Indonesian players improved our game significantly. We lost ourselves after winning the French Open (in 2022), and it took us some time to rediscover our true form. We are happy that we got to show our potential at the Olympics.

“We are disappointed not to return with a medal, but we are happy with our overall performance. We hope RTG can continue to support us. They have been helping us for over a year now, and moving forward we can also come up with ideas on how to build towards LA 2028,” said Thinaah.

In Paris, Thinaah-Tan defied all odds by emerging from the ‘group of death’ after they overcame Japanese pair Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara and Indonesians Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Ramadhanti.

Chia, who was a point away from defeat in the bronze medal match with Soh against Danish pair Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen, also expressed his hope that RTG will continue.

“We hope this programme will continue to support us over the long term, as we prepare for the next Olympics in 2028,” he said.

Chia-Soh eventually beat Astrup-Rasmussen 16-21, 22-20, 21-19 for the bronze.

Chen, meanwhile, added that RTG’s support helped him to recover from an injury just before the Paris Olympics.

“I had a small injury that was sorted out and it helped me give my best in Paris,” said Chen, who reached the last eight before losing to their silver medalists opponents Kim Won-ho-Jeong Na-eun.

National coaching director Rexy Mainaky added that RTG’s financial support for the contingent’s pre-Olympic camp in Aire Sure La Lys, Paris helped them prepare in the best way possible.

“Our final preparation was done in a great atmosphere. We had the whole hotel to ourselves and the hotel service and facilities were great. We prepared in peace and that was important to us,” he said.